Originally posted by julial@Jun 16th, 2004 - 10:17 pmI suppose he is the wealthiest roaylty in ME? Since he is No. 4 on Forbes 500, 2004 list.

Supposedly so. But the Maktoums are pretty close behind among the royals wh are reasonably open about their financial situation. I think there is a lot of "hidden" money in the Arab world-it&#39;s hard to know who and what family has what squirreled away. The area has been unstable for so long, there is fear of assassination and being dethroned, there&#39;s infighting, everyone is looking out for #1 and secrecy is the norm. Saddam Hussein reportedly had a fortune invested in the West.

The Economist did a little investigating into al-Waleed&#39;s investments a few years back. There&#39;s been some suspicion that the numbers reported for him don&#39;t add up, some speculate that he&#39;s a front man for some of the other Saudi royal investors.

He is undoubtedly very wealthy and did make the lion&#39;s share of it, I think, himself - he started with not much, his father, Talal, as not one of the wealthier royals and Talal was in exile for a while. Al-Waleed mortgaged a home his father gave him to get his initial seed money. He is certainly one of the most progressive Saudi royals, comfortable doing business both in the West and in the Arab world. He&#39;s not afraid to use Western business practices such as layoffs, performance standards and cost cutting that are pretty much unheard of in SA. He&#39;s one of the few people in position of power who have criticized the past management of the Kingdom and a bit of an alarmist about the future if things don&#39;t change. You certainly have to call al-Waleed one of the good guys. He&#39;s not a deadbeat leecher prince. He&#39;s also pretty liberal on women&#39;s issues. It was well publicized that he hired some of the women in Saudi to work for him who were arrested after protesting not being able to drive by partaking in a "drive-in" in the city streets.

He also has a lot of business interests in Lebanon where he grew up and still has citizenship; he owns hotels, retail and media companies there and there&#39;s some speculation he might be interested in getting into politics either there or in Saudi Arabia.

His father, Prince Talal is a bit of a character himself. Talal was forced to flee SA in the 60s when he tried to lead a revolt against the King and then meddled again from Egypt, trying to get the russian communists to help him. They called him the "Red Prince" for a while. He was allowed to go back to SA if he stayed out of political scene. Prince Talal now is called the "children&#39;s Prince" because he is the representative to UNESCO and active in other children&#39;s charities and water conservation. He still pretty outspoken and in favor of women&#39;s rights and every once in a while you&#39;ll read some outburst of his in the media. He and Crown Prince Abdullah are reportedly close.

Hi Everybody! My name is Jen and I'm an avid middle eastern royalty fan.
I wanted to tell everyone that there is a yahoo group for Prince Alwaleed...and in the group, there are LOTS of pics of his gorgeous son, Prince Khaled and his beautiful daughter.

Here is the webpage for the Alwaleed bin Talal group that I was talking about.
Prince Khaled is in his late twenties. I read an article once where they called his manner of speaking "frank and engaging" - whatever that means. I don't know if he's married or dating anyone or anything. he's hard to find info on. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alwaleed_bin_talal/

DUBAI - Saudi Arabia, a country where women are not allowed to drive, will next year see its first woman pilot take to the skies flying with the private fleet of billionaire Saudi Prince Al-Walid bin Talal.

"In a first move of its kind, Kingdom Holding Company has announced the hiring of Captain Hanadi Zakariya Hindi, the first female Saudi pilot in the history of Saudi Arabia," the company said in a statement.

The prince, a senior member of the royal family in the oil-rich desert kingdom, described it as an "historic move for Saudi ladies.

"The move transcends the traditional role of Saudi women previously confined to working in the health, education and philanthropic sectors. I am in full support of Saudi ladies working in all fields," he added.

Hindi will be flying by mid-2005.

"Women are very capable of taking on any job previously monopolised by men," she said in the statement.

"My dream is to fly a plane of Saudi Arabian Airlines. If this doesn't happen, I'm pretty sure a Saudi private company will hire me," Hindi said last March.

Women in Saudi Arabia, who have to cover from head to toe in public and cannot mix with men other than relatives, are subjected to a number of other restrictions, including not being able to travel alone.

Although the government started issuing separate identity cards in 2001, Saudi women cannot obtain such documents without the approval of a male guardian such as a husband or father.

Nor do they have the right to vote or run for public office.

Kingdom Holding is an investment body that oversees Prince Walid's assets worldwide. The 44-year-old prince, a nephew of King Fahd, has amassed a personal fortune of 20 billion dollars. He built his global financial empire by investing in major companies experiencing hard times.

Riyadh : Saudis poured money and vital relief aid into a state-sponsored campaign that has raised more than $83 million (Dh305 million) for the victims of the Asia tsunami.
Moved into action by a 14-hour telethon which ended early yesterday, thousands of Saudis and expatriates streamed into collection centres to help those grappling with the disaster.

"My sons and daughters decided to give their pocket money," said Saudi Abdul Rahman Al Subaie who accompanied his four children to a Riyadh stadium packed with donors and volunteers.

"The victims of the disaster are all our brothers and we must help them," he added, pointing to several large boxes rapidly filling up with cash.

More than 150,000 people have died since the December 26 quake which also left 1.5 million homeless. Many victims have relatives among the millions of migrants working in the Gulf.

Some commentators in the kingdom, which employs tens of thousands of Asians, had criticised it for giving too little aid despite high revenues from record oil prices.

Saudi officials, however, said their aid was generous in relation to its population and economy.

The government has so far pledged $30 million and state-run charities have sent tonnes of food, medicines and other humanitarian aid to the stricken area.

"I feel deeply for all the victims," said Mohammad Al Ghamdi as he dropped off two sacks of clothes.

Religious scholars, academics and even sports stars took part in the live television broadcast which saw donations of gold jewellery, clothes, medicines and even shares in companies.

Saudi newspapers said many people had donated some of their monthly salaries in response to the appeal. Some Saudis said they were moved by the poignant footage of the survivors of the disaster, a third of whom are children.

"I wanted to help after I saw the people suffering on the television," said Fuad Al Delali as he unloaded sacks of clothes.

Billionaire businessman Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, also a royal, also gave cash, tents and clothes valued at $19 million. "We believe humanitarian aid is a responsibility shared by all and that it transcends religion, race and geographic boundaries," said a statement from the prince's office.

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March, 1955 to Prince Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud, son of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King AbdulAziz Alsaud, and to Princess Mona El-Solh, daughter of Riad El-Solh, the first Prime Minister of modern day Lebanon and a leader of Lebanese independence.

The prince was educated in the U.S. where he got his B. Sc. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, Menlo College, California, in 1979, and his M.A. in Social Science with honours, Syracuse University, 1985.

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud, member of the Saudi Royal family, is a private entrepreneur and an international investor.

The Prince began building his investment portfolio in 1979, when he returned to Saudi Arabia after earning his Bachelor’s degree in the US.

Prince Alwaleed established a number of business ventures, initially focusing on construction and real estate. Over time, the Prince’s investments rapidly grew and eventually led to the formation of Kingdom Holding Company, which invested along side other entities controlled by HRH, in banking, telecommunications, broadcasting & media, entertainment, hospitality, computers and electronics, agriculture, restaurants, upscale fashion, retailing, supermarkets, tourism, travel, and automotive manufacturing.

The Africa Fund was created during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Coolum, Australia.

It was endorsed by the Commonwealth Finance ministers and the World Bank, which teamed up with the Commonwealth secretariat to launch the fund in collaboration with the Development Bank of Southern Africa and FMO, the Dutch Development Agency.

Mr McKinnon said the fund represents a significant success for the Commonwealth in helping to build a powerful global partnership, which mobilises resources and expertise to develop enterprise in Africa.

He said: "The $100 million worth of investment capital raised so far is a vote of confidence in Africa's potential. It reflects the increasing recognition of the need for greater support for the courageous reforms being implemented by several African governments."

The fund was targeted at investment opportunities in cross-border companies to facilitate their growth and capacity to compete both in the region, and internationally.

It is a private investment fund established under the aegis of the Commonwealth Investment Initiative, which has raised more than $300 million for private investments in the four regions of the Commonwealth.

The initiative was launched by Commonwealth Finance ministers and Heads of Government in 1995 to promote investment in developing countries.

Was alwaleed ibn talal married to one woman or more?and what about his father,was he married to one woman "the daughter of the former lebanese president Riyad alsolh" or more as did and still do most of princes of Gulf?

PARIS, FRANCE: Picture taken 10 January 2005 in Paris shows the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris. Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has stakes in the Euro Disney theme part and owns the luxury George V hotel in Paris, is looking to acquire another hotel in the French capital and might bid for the Paris InterContinental, the Financial Times reported 10 January.

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March, 1955 to Prince Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud, son of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King AbdulAziz Alsaud, and to Princess Mona El-Solh, daughter of Riad El-Solh, the first Prime Minister of modern day Lebanon and a leader of Lebanese independence.

The prince was educated in the U.S. where he got his B. Sc. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, Menlo College, California, in 1979, and his M.A. in Social Science with honours, Syracuse University, 1985.

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud, member of the Saudi Royal family, is a private entrepreneur and an international investor.

The Prince began building his investment portfolio in 1979, when he returned to Saudi Arabia after earning his Bachelor’s degree in the US.

Prince Alwaleed established a number of business ventures, initially focusing on construction and real estate. Over time, the Prince’s investments rapidly grew and eventually led to the formation of Kingdom Holding Company, which invested along side other entities controlled by HRH, in banking, telecommunications, broadcasting & media, entertainment, hospitality, computers and electronics, agriculture, restaurants, upscale fashion, retailing, supermarkets, tourism, travel, and automotive manufacturing.

Honorary Degrees & Academic Awards:

Doctorate of Humane Letters, honoris causa, University of New Haven, 1992.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga greets Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud, a member of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family and Chairman of Kingdom Holdings Company, at the President’s House yesterday.

Saudi Arabia to invest in Lankan tourism sector

by Anjana Gamage

Visiting Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud yesterday assured President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga that Saudi Arabia was committed to assist Sri Lanka's reconstruction programme in the long term and also make substantial investments in the tourism sector.

"We are willing to invest in Lanka's tourism on a large scale," Prince Al Waleed, Chairman of the Kingdom Holdings Company of Saudi Arabia, told President Kumaratunga.

The Prince and the Saudi Arabian delegation met the President at President's House.

The Prince informed the President that Saudi Arabia was wiling to invest heavily in Sri Lanka as it emerges anew from the tsunami disaster. He specifically mentioned his interest in further developing the Colombo Hilton. He also noted the economic contribution made by the 350,000 Sri Lankans working in the Kingdom.

The Prince stressed that Saudi Arabia was helping Sri Lanka to re-develop all tsunami hit areas. It has already granted Rs.300 million as reconstruction aid which will be utilised for building 1,000 houses in Kirinda and other areas decided by the Sri Lankan Government.

President Kumaratunga thanked Prince Al Waleed for the assistance granted to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami catastrophe. She briefed the visiting prince on the post-tsunami reconstruction programme.

The Prince also met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. They discussed reconstruction activities in the coastal areas and further areas on which the two countries can cooperate. They also discussed investment opportunities for Saudi Arabia in Sri Lanka.

He met Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama and Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike. Speaking to the media after his meeting with Prince Al Waleed, Minister Anura Bandaranaike said: "There are no large scale Saudi Arabian investments in Sri Lanka. He expressed willingness to invest in tourism here on a big scale.

They want to build a large hotel in Colombo and also show a keen interest in investing in the Colombo Hilton."

Board of Investment Chairman Saliya Wickramasooriya who also participated in the discussions said that specific areas for Saudi Arabian investments will be identified later. It would take three years to complete the tourism resort. The Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Dr. P. Ramanujam and the Secretary to the Ministry of Investments Dr. U. Vidanapathirana also participated.

Prince Khalid bin Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia, the only son of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, will marry the daughter of the country's finance minister this weekend. Khalid, 27 and the elder of Alwaleed's two children, will marry the daughter of Ibrahim al-Assaf on Saturday, said a spokeswoman for Alwaleed, who declined to be identified or to identify the bride. Khalid is a member of the ruling al-Saud family and a director of Kingdom Holding, the company his father runs, which has made him the world's fifth-richest man, with $23.7 billion in assets, according to Forbes magazine. Anthony Harris, a former British ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said in a telephone interview: "It's interesting that Prince Khalid is marrying a commoner and reflects a great desire among more sophisticated Saudis to marry outside the family .

Oh, thanks for posting that article Houri. :) Yeah, I've also been following the discussions in one of the Alwaleed groups. I read that the bride is the daughter of the Finance Minister and that her name is Moneerah.